Rebuilding
by aFallenDawn
Summary: After a large senior class graduates, the marching band must find a way to rebuild its ranks. However, with so many beloved members gone, how will the veterans react to the rookies and new season?
1. Chapter 1

I was playing my flute with total abandon. That's what the mood for the piece was, and I was taking it to the extreme, barely bothering to read the music. I'd played the song so many times I no longer needed the music, so many times that the song had become as easy to play as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," or "Hot Cross Buns."

I should've been playing my marching music instead of the praise songs I was entertaining myself with, and I knew it. Rookie Camp started at 9am tomorrow morning, and our band director, Roberts, had taken the time to remind us to practice and start memorizing our show over the summer. As a junior, I knew how necessary this was, and so I'd taken him up on it. I had the entire first movement memorized, along with over half of the second. It would only take me another couple of days to get the rest of the second, and probably another week and a half to get the third and fourth movements, since they were considerably easier than our first two.

I finished up the song a few seconds later and started to deconstruct my flute. It was pretty easy, just twisting off the head joint and foot joint and putting them in the correct places in their case after first shaking and cleaning out all the condensation. Once everything was in its place, I closed my case and put everything back where it belonged.

My phone, which was sitting on the arm of my chair, began to ring. I picked it up, and it showed Incoming Call: Chris, along with a photo of us at Hogwarts last year, a memento from the band's Orlando trip that he'd gone on because the university's exam week had been the week before. I answered before it had rung three times.

His voice came through, slightly muffled, and I guessed he was at some party or family dinner, or at least somewhere with several people in the same room. "Hey, Elle," he said. "How's my favorite marcher? All ready for Rookie Camp?"

I smiled. Hearing his voice was always something that made my day better. We typically talked once or twice a day, either in the morning before school/work/chores, or after dinner, during our usual homework/practice time. We were both musicians, and we both played trumpet, sax, and flute. He played more instruments than I did, though- baritone, trombone, clarinet, French horn, and tuba.

He had gotten a full scholarship to The University of South Carolina Honors College, which was about thirty minutes away if you didn't count traffic, and was currently studying music arrangement and composition as well as computer engineering. He'd decided to forgo a minor and just dive right into a double major, causing me to label him as insane. He just said he was ambitious.

"I'm so excited," I replied. "We've got three rookies this year! And who is your favorite marcher, by the way? I seem to have forgotten." I was a section leader this year, along with my friend Kylie, and we were looking forward to kicking the flute section into gear. Not that they needed it, of course, but a little push never hurt anyone.

His laugh, slightly more muffled than the rest of his words and not quite as deep as in real life, although most people wouldn't have been able to tell, came through the phone as he replied. "You know you're my favorite, Elle. I didn't really have to tell you, did I?" he asked.

It was my turn to laugh. "Of course not," I assured him. "I was just making sure nothing had changed."

"Good," he said. "Now, I hate to go, but Roberts wants me to look over the music for the show before tomorrow, and I haven't done it yet. So I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

I smiled again, remembering that he was on staff this year, even though he'd only completed his freshman year of college. "Sounds good," I confirmed. "See you tomorrow."

 **A/N: Some of the people, are based off of real people, but I promise that while they may bear resemblance to real people, they are original characters. Also, I'm open to criticism, but please keep it constructive. I don't leave nasty reviews, and I don't appreciate them, either.**

 **Love & Harmony,**

 **Jazmyn Isabel**


	2. Chapter 2

I woke the next morning at 7 a.m. and hopped in the shower. I didn't bother to dry it, instead, I combed and braided it. I had faith that the hundred degree heat would dry it once we got outside. I pulled on a tshirt and shorts, before sitting down and pulling on socks and beginning to lace up my ankle brace.

I had injured myself during band camp my rookie year, spraining an ankle and fracturing the base of my pinky toe. I'd had to wear a boot during that year's band camp and the first few after school rehearsals, and then I had been stuck in an ankle brace the rest of the season. To keep from re-injuring myself, I'd continued to march in the brace, and the end of every season could find me with a quite definitive tan line exactly where the brace stopped on my leg.

Ready for practice, I hopped in my car- a hand-me-down from my mom, received when she'd decided to upgrade to a newer model- and drove down the road to Chick-fil-a, a tradition that had started back when I was a rookie and my dad had taken me there to soothe my nerves because I loved the food. Now, it was simply something to remind me of how far I'd come.

Walking in and placing my order, I made sure that'd texted all the rookies and told them to get to the band room by 8:45, because all the veterans knew that if you showed up at the actual call time, you were late. In Roberts's mind, call time = go time, no exceptions.

Once I got my food, I took my time eating. It was only eight, and I was planning on getting to the band room around eight-thirty, meaning I had about twenty minutes. The food was cooked to perfection, and the hash browns were _good_.

After I'd finished eating, I hopped back in my car and drove to the high school. After pulling into the student parking lot, I made sure to park _off the band grid_ , so that I could avoid an angry Roberts, grabbed my stuff out of the passenger seat, and went inside.

There weren't many people in the band room, mainly leadership and staffers. I walked over to the name tag boxes, grabbed mine, and pinned it onto the hem of my shirt. I tried to make sure it wasn't in any place that would interfere with marching and/or playing, but since my entire shirt shifted every time I put my instrument up, that was kind of impossible. So I just did my best.

I turned around, heading off towards my cubby(yes, we still used those, and yes, we competed for the good ones), when I was immediately pulled into a tight embrace by my boyfriend. "You look ready," Chris said. "I mean, you didn't even bother with drying your hair."

I pulled back out of the hug and punched him lightly on the arm. "What's your point?" I asked him. "That two years of band camp has taught me my lesson?"

"Exactly," he smiled. "And Roberts wants to see you in his office. He said it was something important." He saw my grimace and added, "Hey, that was last year. You've still got next year to try, and you're going to be a great section leader, Elle. Keep your head up, okay?"

I nodded. Right. It was last year, and I was still section leader. I could do this. "I'll catch you later, okay? It's best not to keep Roberts waiting."

"I know," he said, releasing a grip, I hadn't even noticed he had on my hand. "Knock 'em dead, tiger."

I walked out of Roberts's office less nervous than I had gone in. It turned out that he'd just wanted to remind me of what the rules for leaders are: we don't tell anybody what time it is, we don't linger during breaks, and we make ourselves available to help wherever help is needed. Easy-peasy, especially in a section of eleven with two section leaders. Kylie and I had this _down_.

I noticed that some of the rookies had started to trickle in, and I went over and talked to one of the new flute girls. She was excited, ready, had her flute, which was fully operational, and was wearing tennis shoes. She'd had two pieces of toast and three sausage links for breakfast, which was good,and had come with a full water bottle. I think Kylie had gone over all of the "Band 101" stuff with them, because I knew this girl had no band member siblings and that I hadn't told them anything about what to bring.

After I was sure she was set, I went over to the ice machine and sink and filled my own water bottle with ice and water, even though I knew the half-gallon would only last me about half the day.

I was just emerging from the ice room, as it had affectionately been named, when Isaac called out "Okay guys, time to go outside!" I walked over to where my stuff was, grabbed it, and then headed outside to begin the rigorous two weeks of band camp.

 **A/N: So, two chapters down, so many more to go. This is getting good, and I promise there will be players from the sections in the piece, not just flutes and instructors. They're coming, I promise.**

 **Love & Harmony,**

 **Jazmyn Isabel**


	3. Chapter 3

It was only lunchtime, and I was already exhausted. I'd pushed myself to the breaking point, almost, trying to show Roberts that he'd made the wrong decision last year. I'd lost to Jordon, who should've been a senior baritone player this year, by 0.05 in attitude and expression. That had come as a shock, since I was one of the most expressive people I knew. But apparently, I just wasn't expressive enough.

My phone buzzed, and a text from Chris appeared on the screen. At CFA getting lunch, it read. You want anything?

I texted back quickly, confirming my usual order, and fifteen minutes later he was walking through the band room door with food in his hands. "Thanks, babe," I said, raising myself to my full height and onto my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Now get in there. You know Roberts," I ordered, jerking my head towards the office door, which held a room of staffers who were offering opinions on the day's work.

He leaned down and hugged me. "I'll see you later," he whispered in my ear. "Don't forget that you'll always be my drum major." He straightened back up and walked into the office, and I walked out into the hallway and over to the spot where Mack, Emma, Brie, and the rest of the older flutes used to eat lunch. It was still regarded as the flute section's spot, even though I was the only one there today.

I pulled out my phone, and in a sudden stroke of sadness that my best friends weren't with me anymore, opened the flute section's Instagram. We'd started it my sophomore year of high school, and the section leaders were the ones that ran it and had the passwords. I scrolled through my phone until I found a picture from last year's Rookie Camp of all of us, and selected it. The caption read #MissingYouMonday The last time we were here was so different...come WAKE ME UP INSIDE!

Just looking at the joy on all of our faces as we posed for the picture was enough to make me cry. Those girls had convinced me to stay when I wanted to quit, picked me up when I fell or was knocked down, and we're always there. Before I knew it, the memories had me crying.

"You miss them too, huh?" came a masculine voice from above my head. I looked up and saw Jaden, a junior trumpet player and a good friend of mine.

I wiped my tears from my face quickly. "Is it that obvious?"

He sat down next to me and I laid my head on his shoulder. "I think," he said, "it's that obvious with all of us. We've got to face it-they were the heart of this band. Now, we've got to make them proud. Become to the rookies who they were for us. So," he shrugged my head off if his shoulder, "chin up. Smile. There you go. Now, what was that song that John came up with our rookie year?"

I actually smiled at that, not just the weak one I had given a couple seconds earlier. "The Scooby-Doo Parody?"

"That's the one," he winked. "You ready?"

We stood up and he grabbed my hand. "Whenever you are," I replied.

It wasn't long before Jaden had grabbed the room's attention and was counting them off. Within a few more seconds, we were belting out John's parody to the Scooby-Doo theme. "Enthusiasm, where are you? We lost you on the first day. We wrote this song so we could find you! I hope we found you the fun way."

We sat back down considerably more cheerful, and ate our lunches together, talking about our summers. In fact, I think some of the rookies began to get the idea that we were dating because we weren't holding anything back. We were talking about anything and everything, and being completely honest with each other.

Well, everything except Chris. Roberts was allowing our relationship, but only if we didn't let the rookies know. He didn't want people thinking that it was okay to date instructors. The only reason we had permission was because we had been together when he graduated and went to college, and we'd stayed together. If we'd broken up somewhere along the way, or not been together when he left high school, I'd be willing to bet money that we wouldn't have gotten permission from Roberts.

After lunch was over, it was nap time. A good hour for our food to digest and us to sleep/lay down/relax/do whatever before sectionals. I just sat there for the whole hour and looked over music.

We finished the day with a short two-hour sectional before heading back outside to work on marching. In the end, the flute section was functioning properly, and I was exhausted. I just laid on the pavement and eventually felt strong arms pick me up. I found myself in Chris's embrace, and he stood me upright on the ground before grabbing my stuff.

"Your chariot awaits, Madame," he announced, gesturing to his car after throwing my stuff in the backseat. He opened my door for me and closed it after I was inside the car, before getting in himself.

"So," he said, looking over at me. "Where to?"

"I don't know. How about the mall food court?" I suggested. That was a popular spot for us, since neither of us could ever decide what we wanted.

"Sounds perfect," he agreed.

 **A/N: Sorry for the long wait. School had me going a milion miles an hour, but I'm going to try to churn out some new chapters over break. Love you awesome nerds. ~Jazmyn**


End file.
